Each quarter I post a review of a leadership/motivational book I recommend to colleagues and friends. Some may be old favorites, others are hot off the press. I am always open to suggestions for books to review. If you have a favorite you'd like to share with others, please contact me.

Shifting Into Higher Gear:
An Owners Manual For Uniting Your Calling With Your Career
by Tom Siciliano and Jeff Caliguire

My 20-year-old niece recently quit a part-time she hated and took a job at Borders Books. Borders is further from home, the hours are longer and what with the price of gas, the pay is not much better. When her grandmother asked her why she changed jobs, Katie said she had not enjoyed working her old job. She loves books and knew she would like  the bookstore more.

“Work is nothing to like,” her grandmother said. “It’s something you just have to do.”

Her grandmother should read Shifting into Higher Gear.

The first time I spoke to co-author Tom Siciliano, he told me the book was spiritual and it is. When I think of job search or career change, I usually don’t think of the Bible. Yet authors Tom Siciliano and Jeff Caliguire have written a useful, thoughtful and engaging job search resource, which often  quotes from the Bible, proving that job woes are nothing new.

Having said this, I want to clarify that Shifting into Higher Gear is not a religious book. It doesn’t preach. The Bible quotes remind the reader that in our current fast-paced world many things are not new. Some of the everyday issues we deal with were issues also faced by people in biblical times.

Siciliano and Caliguire encourage readers to explore their life, to investigate what their calling might be and then to consider finding a job that integrates that calling. The goal, say the authors, is to “encourage and inspire you to be you.”

Shifting into Higher Gear is written in three parts:

• Discover your calling
• Find the job that fits your calling
• Keep the job that fits your calling

Chapter “take aways” are highlighted for the reader at the start of each chapter.

A calling is described as the intention of your design and purpose. It is being in alignment with what you have been created to do and your ability to do something with excellence and passion. Calling is about what you are and not about becoming something because of what you do.

Calling involves

• What you are good at
• What you’ve gained experience in
• What you dream about
• Where your passion lies

Discovering this doesn’t come easy. Reflection for many people is a tough road. So the authors provide the reader with a number of worthwhile exercises, fill-in charts and thought-provoking questions. For example, how would you answer the following?

• Tomorrow is a holiday. You may do whatever you want. What will you do?
• You have been given all of January or February off with pay. What will you do?
• You’ve been left several million dollars. What three things you would do with it?

Your answers can help you see where you are willing to put your time, energy, and money. If money were no issue, what would you be doing right now? If you could do anything, anywhere, what would it be? Did you know there are 10 ways to recognize your passion?

At Chapter 5, the authors begin to focus on skills. What are your natural skills, your transferable skills  and your innate skills?

Drawing a blank? Start by listing your accomplishments, the types of awards/recognitions have you received in your life. Jot down what people have told you you’re good at (affirmations). Never asked for affirmations? The authors give you some questions to e-mail to friends and co-workers that will help you become aware of what others see as your strengths.

One of the most interesting chapters for me focused on interests. So often clients say, “But I have so many interests!” I’ve said it myself.

Shifting into Higher Gear provides a unique way to look more closely at your interests. When you say you are interested in something, what does that mean? Are you a spectator to your interest or have you jumped in—do you play some role in your interest?

PART II

Part II looks at the nuts and bolts of the job search: the resume, cover letter, interviewing and references. In today’s market, one ad can generate hundreds of resumes. How can yours stand out? How do you present yourself in the interview?

Shifting into Higher Gear provides good basic information on different types of resumes, content of cover letters, securing references and composing those all-important thank you notes that so many job-seekers overlook.

The authors also suggest that you find a place of your own from which you can conduct your job search. They call it “a place of focus.”

Up to this point the reader’s work has been pretty solitary. You working on you. Now it’s time to kick it up and look at resources outside yourself. Job information can be found in the library. Get to know your resource librarian. Use the web as a resource as well.

Who is your network? For those working within companies, networks sometimes go by the wayside. Shifting into Higher Gear offers you a diagram to kick-start your thinking about whom you know and how can they help you. Finding a job is a contact sport and you need to make contacts. The book provides an easily remembered acronym to get the ball rolling:  RUCKUS (read the book to find out what it means).

One of the jewels from Shifting into Higher Gear goes like this:  if you hesitate to network because you feel you are imposing on other people think of it this way…your request may be the gift that enables the other person to do what they do best.

Shifting into Higher Gear also offers good suggestions for prepping for the all-important interview: including questions you might ask the interviewer. Remember:  you are seeking information about them as well as the other way around.

Part II closes with information on how to close the deal. How???  ASK FOR THE JOB! Asking for what you want communicates confidence and the interviewer will respect you for asking for what you want.

The final section of Shifting into Higher Gear is an added bonus. There are many books out there that talk about finding a job. Few talk candidly about what happens after you land one.

Starting a new job is stressful on a number of levels: mind, body and spirit.

Shifting into Higher Gear urges the reader to:

• Take care of self,
• Have a plan for balancing work and personal life
• Consider information given on navigating change at the company, in yourself, even in your calling.

Settling into that job is not the end of the journey; it is often just the beginning.

WHY I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK:

Research has shown that intentions and ideas written down are more readily  achieved. Shifting into Higher Gear provides exercises and suggestions to help the reader move beyond where they currently are.

I personally liked the way the authors integrated  quotes from the Bible into the content of the book along with others such a Covey and Kierkegaard. People in biblical times struggled with purpose as well and the advice they received stands well today.

As the new year begins,  a prayer quoted from Shifting into Higher Gear is appropriate:

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